Baseball

TRADITION

1895 - The first intercollegiate athletic event in school history between Rollins and Stetson, won 11-10 by Rollins. Rex Beach was the captain of the first baseball team at Rollins.

1908 - Rollins lost two out of 12 baseball games against four different colleges and earned the Florida State Champions title.

1917 - Due to the war, Rollins baseball was canceled with a notice on April 14, 1917.

1921 - Tars win Florida Intercollegiate Baseball Championship title.

1947 - Joe Justice heads up the first baseball season on record and concludes his first year with a 16-5 overall record.

1954 - Rollins became the smallest school in college history to play in the College World Series as they posted a 25-8 overall record and finished second in the championship. They lost the championship game to the University of Missouri, 4-1.

1966 - Head coach Joe Justice was named the College Baseball Coach of the Year when the team finished 23-11. The Tars also won the Florida Intercollegiate Conference title and appeared in the NCAA Tournament.

1971- Final season Joe Justice is at the helm of the Rollins baseball program and wraps up the 1971 season with a 17-17 mark. Justice finishes his baseball coaching career with a 482-287-3 overall record. He led the squad to 10 Florida Intercollegiate Conference Championships, six NCAA postseason appearances, three College World Series appearances and two NAIA postseason appearances.

1972 - Boyd Coffie named head baseball coach and finishes his first season at Rollins with an 18-20 record.

1983 - Boyd Coffie named Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year after the squad finished the season 36-13 and 16-5 in league play. The team also earned the programs 13th postseason bid and sixth under the direction of Coffie.

1986 - Head coach Boyd Coffie earns his second Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year honor and leads the team to a 31-25 overall record.

1989 - Under the direction of Boyd Coffie, the Tars registered a 36-24 record and reached the Division II World Series, finishing fifth in the series.

1994 - Rollins finished 40-16 on the year, recording the most wins in a season. The Tars ranked No. 1 in the nation and spent a total of nine weeks in the top-10.

1995 - The Tars finished a topsy turvy season at 26-28 and 4-17 in Sunshine State Conference action. Rollins won the 48th Annual "Baseball Week" Tournament with a 5-1 mark and had won 13 of 15 games prior to SSC action. Rollins was 15-6 this year against Division I opponents and lost 12 games by one run. Gregg Smyth set the Rollins all-time record for most careers wins after he beat Michigan on Feb. 22 (in the same game, the Tars turned a triple play)! Smyth finished his career in high style by setting a new NCAA Division II record for most innings pitched with 509 with a complete game win over Florida Tech in his final start. Bob Rikeman was named to the head coaching position April 13.

1997 - A sprint to the finish, winning 10 of their final 13 games lifted the Rollins baseball team to their first winning season since 1994 with a 27-25 mark. Head coach Bob Rikeman notched his 100th career win during the season.

1998 - Rollins posted an overall record of 27-28 but held key moments throughout the season; the squad rewrote the record books in many of the team and individual single-season records. As a team, the Tars shattered the previous single-season records for home runs of 58 with 84 this season. They also broke the records for doubles with 127 and slugging percentage .518. Junior Barton Vaughn set new records for home runs in a season with 22, total bases with 165 and highest slugging percentage at .750. Senior Chris Thorne broke the single-season doubles record of 20 with 21.

1999 - The Tars ended the season with a 27-26 record and reached a national ranking as high as 15th. Senior A.J. Brack pitched a no-hitter against Madonna and had 15 strikeouts. Juniors Justin Sherrod, Chris Doherty and David Bean set new individual school records. Sherrod broke the career home run record when he hit his 35th career homer against Saint Leo and Doherty tied the pitching record of most games started in season with 18. Bean set two new records as he made 30 pitching appearances and averaged 12.04 strikeouts per innings.

2001 - With a strong combination of timely hitting, slick fielding and solid pitching, the baseball team moved to as high as 11th in Division II with several big victories early in the season. The team defeated nationally ranked Valdosta State as well as Division I opponents Central Michigan, Virginia Tech and Long Island University. After struggling through the early portion of their conference schedule, the Tars swept SSC foe Florida Tech and finished with their second straight 30+ victory season. Sophomore Jason Cloar set a new school record with a .424 batting average and earned First Team All-Region and Second Team All-SSC honors.

2002- The baseball team opened the season with victories in 14 of their first 15 games and went on to post a 41-16 overall record to reach the NCAA South Regional for the first time in nine years. They finished the season ranked 16th in NCAA Division II.

2003 - The squad finished with a 29-24 overall record and in fourth place in the league standings. However, the team was just a few lucky breaks away from returning to the NCAA Regionals for the second consecutive year as 11 of their losses, including six in conference, were by just one run. Senior Jason Cloar was named the SSC Player of the Year while hitting over .400 for the third straight season.

2004 - The 2004 Tars had the most successful season in program history, winning the Sunshine State Conference for the first time ever en route to a record-setting 48 wins. Head coach Bob Rikeman was named SSC and South Region Coach of the Year, while Rollins claimed the SSC Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and placed eight players on the All-SSC Team. The team won the South Region Championship and reached the semifinals of the Division II College World Series.

2005 - The Tars baseball squad rolled up a record of 37-18 on the diamond, tying for second place in the Sunshine State Conference and earning a berth into the NCAA South Region Tournament, their third trip in the past four years.

2010 - Rollins captured a monumental season as the team finished 41-19, which tied for the second most wins in program history, while stunning the conference as they finished in second place at 16-8. The team also earned a trip to the NCAA South Regional, the first in five years. Senior Taylor Ferguson set new program records with 99 hits in a single season, 27 doubles, 261 at-bats and 172 total bases. Starting pitcher Tim Griffin coveted the SSC Pitcher of the Year title and earned numerous postseason accolades and was named Second Team ABCA All-America and Daktronics Third Team All-America. Griffin was also selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 28th Round and was the 852nd overall pick.

2011 - The Tars finished one win above .500 with a 27-26 record and a 6-18 Sunshine State Conference mark. Rollins picked up only one conference series win which was against No. 8 Barry. Senior Kevin Mager set a new program record in triples in a season with nine, breaking a 37-year old record set by John Castino in 1974.

2012 - Rollins finished the season with a 28-22 overall record and saw head coach Dr. Jon Sjogren collect his 200th Rollins victory in a 4-1 road decision versus Eckerd. During the 64th edition of the Rollins College Baseball Week event, right-handed hurler Anthony Figliolia was named NCBWA South Region Pitcher of the Week for his efforts in a 2-1 victory over the No. 8 Grand Valley State Lakers. Redshirt senior Kevin Mager, who was the Tars' sole player to get signed, was named to the 2012 Tino Martinez Award Watch List during the preseason.

2013 - The Tars baseball team hit a rough patch as they finished 24-23-1. They finished eighth in the Sunshine State Conference standings (9-14-1) and had three named to the All-SSC Team. Outfielder Zach Persky was a first team selection while starting pitcher Taylor Smith was named second team and SP Anthony Figliolia honorable mention.

2014 - The Tars concluded the season with a record of 17-28 and a 3-21 mark in the Sunshine State Conference. During the Tars' 66th Annual Baseball Week tournament, head coach Jon Sjogren captured his 600th career win over the University of the Sciences in a 13-0 victory. At the end of Baseball Week, Rollins welcomed the newest member of the baseball team - Ethan Wright. Wright, a cancer survivor of Ewing Sarcoma, "signed" a letter of intent on March 8.

Rollins' big win in 2014 came on the road against then-No. 4 West Florida. The Tars took home a 10-4 victory over the Argos using a hot offense behind a stellar pitching performance. Earning postseason honors were junior Christian Coburn as he was named Second Team All-SSC and sophomore Matt Hendricks, who was named Daktronics First Team All-South Region.

2015 - Rollins finished the season with a record of 21-28-1 and a 6-17-1 record in the Sunshine State Conference. During the Tars' 67th Annual Baseball Week tournament, Seth Brenner was named SSC Pitcher of the Week and NCBWA Regional Player of the Week after recording 19 strikeouts with a 0.88 earned run average against Concordia (N.Y.).

Rollins picked up three wins against top-25 ranked opponents in 2015 as the Tars played a five hour 35 minute game against No. 4 Nova Southeastern that ended in a Tars 4-2 win. Rollins went on the road and defeated No. 25 Lynn 14-6. The Tars also won at No. 14 Tampa for the first time since 2005 as Rollins led the whole game and used a Blake Hutton home run in the ninth inning to seal the 12-11 win.